ilitary  Qrder 

of  tlje 

Joyal      egorj 


of 


COMMANDERY  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 


WAR    PAPER   8. 


Military  Order 


tates. 


COMMANDERY  OF  T0E  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 


WAR    PAPER   8. 


©fder  of  f^  bo^al  k>e|i0n 


OF  THE 


United  States. 


(JOMHAJlDEIpf  OF  THE  DlgTIJdT  OF  COLUW[BIA. 


WAR   PAPERS. 

8 

oQrbraham    (mcoln    and  x  dwin    jyl.      W 

PREPARED  BY   COMPANION 

Brevet    Brigadier    General 

THOMAS    M.    VINCENT, 

• « 

U.  S.  Army, 

AND 

READ  AT  THE  STATED  MEETING  OF  JANUARY  6,   1892. 


Abraham  pnrottt  and  ®&vnn  |RL  Canton, 

1861-1865. 


COMMANDER  AND  COMPANIONS  :  What  I  may  say  on  this  oc 
casion,  I  fear,  will  not  prove  more  than  an  echo.  The  remark 
is  applicable  to  many  utterances,  when  thirty  years  removed 
from  a  time  when  great  men  were  found  necessary  to  perform 
a  part  within  a  theatre  of  war,  which,  in  1861,  was  opened 
to  the  gaze  of  the  world. 

Truly  are  men  known  by  the  parts  they  play — their  works — 
and,  therefore,  in  giving  some  attention  this  evening  to  events 
connected  with  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  it 
will  not  be  out  of  place  to  refer  to  some  of  their  great  labors 
from  1 86 1  to  1865. 

Their  labors  were  not  in  the  field,  for,  as  Commander-in-Chief 
and  War  Minister,  in  the  great  general  struggle,  they  could  not 
appear  in  person  upon  the  fields  of  minor  engagements.  But 
they  accomplished  more  than  did  the  minor  commanders. 
Through  their  efforts  battles  were  made  successful,  and  dis 
tinction  was  made  to  crown  generals  and  others.  Their  efforts, 
by  day  and  by  night,  gave  lustre  to  the  armies  of  the  Union. 

Through  their  inspiration  they  were  present  on  every  field, 
and  organized  victory  ! 

George  Bancroft,  on  a  most  memorable  occasion,  after  refer 
ring  to  the  prediction  of  a  West  Jersey  Quaker,  120  years 
before,  that  the  consequence  of  importing  slaves  would  "be 
grievous  to  posterity,"  and  the  language  of  Patrick  Henry,  in 
1773,  that  a  serious  view  of  the  subject  "  gives  a  gloomy  pros 
pect  to  future  times,"  continued  by  quoting,  in  connection  with 

v 


efforts  for  emancipation  and  abolition,  words  of  despair  from 
Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  others,  and  recited  how 
the  enslavement  of  the  African  resulted  in  a  storm,  adding: 

"  The  storm  rose  to  a  whirlwind  ;  who  should  allay  its  wrath? 
The  most  experienced  statesman  of  the  country  had  failed  ;  there 
was  no  hope  from  those  who  were  great  in  the  flesh  ;  could  relief 
come  from  one  whose  wisdom  was  like  the  wisdom  of  little 
children? 

"  The  choice  of  America  fell  on  a  man  born  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghenies,  in  the  cabin  of  poor  people  of  Hardin  county,  Ken 
tucky — Abraham  Lincoln." 

Yes,  fortunately,  the  choice  fell  to  the  man  who,  in  the  year 
1831,  when  an  obscure  flat-boatman,  after  having  witnessed  the 
flogging  of  a  slave-wroman,  said  :  "  If  ever  I  get  a  chance  at  that 
institution,  I  will  hit  it  hard  !  "  Years  thereafter,  upon  leaving 
his  neighbors  in  order  to  take  the  oath  of  office  as  President  of 
the  United  States,  he  added:  "I  leave  you  on  an  errand  of 
national  importance,  attended,  as  you  are  aware,  with  some 
difficulties."  It  was  not  long  afterward,  at  a  time  when  the 
North  did  not  seem  to  be  ready,  when  the  calmness  of  the 
people  was  so  great  that  it  led  to  discouragement,  that  he 
remarked  :  "I  begin  to  believe  there  is  no  North  !  " 

On  one  occasion,  when  written  to  relative  to  the  resources 
of  a  man  with  whom  a  business  firm  had  some  dealings,  he 
replied  : 

"I  am  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Brown,  and  know  his 
circumstances.  First  of  all,  he  has  a  wife  and  baby  ;  together 
they  ought  to  be  worth  $50,000  to  any  man.  Secondly,  he  has 
an  office,  in  which  there  is  a  table  worth  $1.50,  and  three  chairs 
worth,  say,  $i.  Last  of  all,  there  is  in  one  corner  a  large  rat- 
hole,  which  will  bear  looking  into." 

That  letter,  at  the  anniversary  celebration  of  Lincoln's  eighty- 
second  birth-day,  led  to  the  following  by  the  orator  of  the 
occasion  : 

4tAt  last,  when  he  took  the  oath,  what  did  he  find?  *  *  * 
When  he  came  to  take  the  inventory  of  the  National  assets,  he 


found  in  many  a  home  mothers,  children,  affections,  hopes,  not 
to  be  counted  by  dollars.  He  found  in  the  National  Treasury  a 
table  worth  $1.50,  and  three  chairs  worth  $i  *  #  "*  . 
and  he  found  on  the  south  side  of  the  National  premises  a 
large  rat-hole,  which,  indeed,  would  bear  looking  into,  for  down 
it  had  vanished  prosperity  *  *,  and  the  National 

existence  itself  was  just  disappearing  when  Abraham  Lincoln 
rescued  it,  though,  strange  to  say,  he  was  criticised  because  he 
grasped  it  by  the  hair  of  its  head." 

As  Cominancler-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Nav.y  he  was  soon 
confronted  with  civil  war,  and  recognized  the  aphorism  : 

"  The  sole  object  of  a  just  war  is  to  make  the  enemy  feel  the 
evils  of  his  injustice,  and,  by  his  sufferings,  amend  his  ways;  he 
must,  therefore,  be  attacked  in  the  most  accessible  quarter." 

But  in  April,  1861,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  was, 
for  the  purpose  of  war,  paralyzed.  It  had  not,  practically,  an 
army  to  maintain  its  authority,  and  was  far  from  being  able  to 
attack  the  "accessible  quarter  "  of  an  internal  enemy,  in  con 
spiracy  over  an  area  of  733,144  square  miles,  connected  with  a 
shore  line  of  25,144  miles,  a  coast  line  of  3,523  miles,  and  an 
interior  boundary  of  7,031  miles.  This  was  the  most  important 
of  the  considerable  difficulties,  or  obstacles. 

Had  the  people  of  the  United  States,  through  Congress,  been 
more  thoughtful  concerning  the  object  of,  and  necessity  for,  the 
military  arm,  paralysis  would  have  been  avoided  through  the 
availability  of  a  suitable  force  to  crush  the  initial  movement  of 
the  rebellion,  and  the  State,  in  combat  with  its  own  children, 
would  have  been  spared  a  great  sacrifice  of  human  life — including 
that  of  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy. 

The  magnitude  attained  by  the  rebellion  is  most  instructive, 
for  the  public  debt  and  money  paid  to  pensioners — $3^963,159,- 
751.15 — would  support  our  present  military  establishment,  cost 
ing,  say,  $30,000,000  yearly,  for  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
years.  Now,  however,  as  the  result  of  temporary  expedients, 
coupled  with  shameful  neglect,  the  people  have  to  pay  the 


debt,  expend  millions  for  pensions,  and  support  an  army  costing 
yearly  $30,000,000.  That  is  to  say,  we  have  lost  by  not 
having  an  available  force  to  prevent  rebellion  $3,963,159,- 

75*-I5- 

Early  in  the  struggle  the  question  was  not :  What  will  it 
cost?  but,  Can  the  Government  be  saved,  at  any  cost?  The 
patient  was  very  ill  !  Commendable  and  essential  economy  was 
forced  to  disappear  from  the  grasp  of  the  people. 

The  life  of  the  patient  was  saved,  but  the  doctor's  bill  has  not 
yet  been  paid  !  Moreover,  it  will  never  be  practicable  to  ex 
tend  adequate  compensation,  for  the  services  and  attendant 
sufferings  of  the  soldiers  who  have  made  it  possible,  in 
the  government  of  65,000,000  of  people,  for  a  President  to  hold 
his  office  and  a  Congress  to  enact  the  necessary  laws. 

Powerless,  however,  as  the  Government  then  was  to  overcome 
the  gigantic  attack  on  its  life,  there  was,  fortunately,  a  grand 
latent  power,  awaiting  for  its  development  only  the  demand 
of  the  National  heart,  and  the  regular  army  to  educate  it  and 
prepare  it  for  service.  After  about  seven  months  of  prepa 
ration  that  power  was  manifested  under  an  organization 
numbering  640,637  officers  and  enlisted  men — the  volunteer 
army  of  the  United  States,  with  its  elements  of  patriotism, 
wisdom,  courage ,  and  moderation. 

During  its  organization  Simon  Cameron  was  at  the  head 
of  the  Department  of  War,  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
he  achieved  grand  and  valuable  results  at  a  time  when  his 
department  had  to  encounter  great  embarrassments.  He  has 
said:  "How  difficult  it  was  to  fill. the  position  of  Secre 
tary  of  War  none  but  myself  can  ever  know.  *  *  * 
It  was  a  terrible  time." 

The  difficulty  was  to  restrain  the  volunteers  from  exceed 
ing  the  actual  force  required ;  and  while  men  were  tendered 
so  generously,  we  were  unprepared  for  the  brewing  con- 


7 

flict  and  absolutely    without  the  essentials    to   engage  in  war 

without    guns,    powder,     saltpetre,    bullets,  and    other    needed 
stores. 

In  the  recruitment  of  that  powerful  force,  and  its  sub 
sequent  great  increase,  the  people  made  great  sacrifices. 
"The  President  was  led  along  by  the  greatness  of  their 
self-sacrificing  example,  and  as  a  child,  in  a  dark  night  on 
a  rugged  way,  catches  hold  of  the  hand  of  its  father  for 
guidance  and  support,  he  clung  fast  to  the  hand  of  the  people 
and  moved  calmly  through  the  gloom." 

MOBILIZATION. 

In  connection  with  the  mobilization,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  January  i,  1861,  the  authorized  army  of  the  United 
States  consisted  of  two  regiments  of  dragoons,  two  regiments 
of  cavalry,  one  regiment  of  mounted  riflemen,  four  regiments 
of  artillery,  and  ten  regiments  of  infantry — aggregating,  pres 
ent  and  absent,  16,402  commissioned  officers  and  enlisted  men, 
inclusive  of  the  general  officers  and  general  staff. 

April  15  of  that  year  it  was  officially  promulgated  by  the 
President  that  revolutionary  combinations  existed  in  certain 
States,  and  75,000  militia,  for  three  months'  service,  were 
called  to  suppress  said  combinations,  and  to  cause  the  laws 
to  be  duly  executed.  In  addition,  all  loyal  citizens  were  ap 
pealed  to,  that  they  might  favor,  facilitate,  and  aid  the  effort 
to  maintain  the  honor,  the  integrity,  and  the  existence  of  our 
National  Union  and  the  perpetuity  of  our  popular  government, 
and  to  redress  wrongs  already  long  enough  endured.  The  Pres 
ident  deemed  it  proper  to  add  that  the  first  service  of  the  forces 
would,  probably,  be  to  repossess  the  forts,  places,  and  property 
which  had  been  seized  from  the  Union,  and  directed  that  in 
every  event,  consistently  with  the  objects  he  had  referred  to, 
care  should  be  taken  to  avoid  any  devastation,  any  destruction 


8 

of,  or  interference  with,   property,  or  any  disturbance  of  peace 
ful  citizens  in  any  part  of   the  country. 

When  the  President  took  this  first  decided  action  against 
the  rebellion,  the  danger  threatening  the  seat  of  Government 
will  be  indicated  by  the  following : 

HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY, 

WASHINGTON,  April  26,  1861. 

GENERAL  ORDERS,  ) 

No.  4.  } 

I.  From  the    known  assemblage  near    this  city    of  numerous 
hostile  bodies  of  troops,  it  is  evident  that  an  attack  upon  it  may 
soon  be  expected.     In  such    an    event,  to    meet    and    repel    the 
enemy,  it  is  necessary  that  some  plan  of  harmonious  co-operation 
should  be  adopted  on  the  part  of  all  the  forces,  regular  or  vol 
unteer,  present  for  the  defence  of  the  Capital — that  is,  for  the  de 
fence  of  the  Government,  the  peaceful  inhabitants  of  the  city,  their 
property,  the  public  buildings  and  public  archives. 

II.  At  the  first  moment  of  an  attack  every  regiment,  battalion, 
squadron  and  independent  company  will  promptly  assemble  at  its 
established  rendezvous  (in  or  out  of  the  public  buildings),  ready 
for  battle,  and  wait  for  orders. 

III.  The  pickets  (or  advance  guards)  will  stand  fast  till  driven 
in  by  overwhelming  forces  ;  but  it  is  expected  that  those  stationed 
to  defend  bridges — having  every  advantage  of  position — will  not 
give  way  until  actually  pushed  by  the  bayonet.     Such  obstinacy 
on  the  part  of  pickets  so  stationed  is  absolutely  necessary  to  give 
time  for  the  troops  in  the  rear  to  assemble  at  their  places  of  ren 
dezvous. 

IV.  All  advance  guards  and  pickets  driven  in  will  fall  back 
slowly  to  delay  the  advance  of  the  enemy  as  much  as  possible, 
before  repairing  to  their  proper  rendezvous. 

V.  On  the  happening  of  an  attack,  the  troops  lodged   in  the 
public  buildings  and  in  the  Navy  Yard  will  remain  for  their  de 
fence,  respectively,  unless  specially  ordered  elsewhere,  with  the 
exceptions  that  the  jth  New  York  regiment  and  the  Massachu 
setts  regiment  will  march  rapidly  towards  the  President's  Square 
for  its  defence  :  and  the  Rhode  Island  regiment  (in  the  Depart 
ment    of  the    Interior),   when   full,  will    make    a    diversion,    by 
detachment,  to  assist  in  the  defence  of  the  General  Post-Office 
building,  if  necessary. 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 


May  3,  the  President  deemed  it  indispensably  necessary  to 
further  augment  the  forces  by  42,034  three-year  volunteers  (39 
regiments  of  infantry  and  i  of  cavalry),  and  22,714  officers  and 
enlisted  men,  regulars  (8  regiments  of  infantry,  i  of  cavalry,  and 
i  of  artillery),  thus  making  the  forces,  exclusive  of  the  Navy, 
authorized  for  the  protection  of  the  National  Constitution  and 
the  preservation  of  the  National  Union  by  the  suppression  of  the 
insurrectionary  combinations  then  existing,  as  follows  : 

Regular  army  (January  i,  1861),  16,402 

Militia  (April  15,  1861),         ...  .     75,000 

Regulars  and  volunteers  (May  3,  1861),      .  64,748 

Total,  ...  ^6,150 

The  call  for  militia  was  more  than  met;  91,816  men  were 
furnished,  and  the  call  for  40  regiments  of  volunteers  was 
exceeded — 71  regiments  of  infantry,  i  of  heavy  artillery,  and 
10  batteries  of  light  artillery  were  accepted  and  mustered  into 
service  before  July  i . 

In  Julv  the  magnitude  of  the  unlawful  violence  had  fully 
dawned,  and  it  was  clearly  apparent  that  the  measures  author 
ized  for  the  impartial  enforcement  of  constitutional  laws,  and 
for  the  speedy  restoration  of  peace  and  order,  had  failed.  Con 
gress  assembled  and  authorized  the  President  to  accept  500,000 
volunteers,  for  three  years  or  the  war.  Subsequently  extended 
latitude,  as  to  the  acceptance,  was  conferred,  in  that  "  previous 
proclamation "  was  done  away  with,  and  the  volunteers  were 
authorized  to  be  accepted  in  such  numbers,  from  any  State  or 
States,  as  in  his  (the  President's)  discretion  the  public  service 
might  require. 

January  15,  1862,  Edwin  M.  Stanton  became  Secretary  of 
War,  and  through  his  stimulus  the% recruitment  was  so  energet 
ically  pressed  by  the  people  that  April  3,  1862,  the  forces  were 
deemed  sufficient  to  overcome  the  rebellion.  At  this  time,  had 


10 

any  one  said  it  would  require  2,678,697  ^nlistme  nts  from  first  to 
last,  and  an  increase  of  the  volunteer  forces,  in  service  at  one 
time,  to  1,034,064,  in  order  that  armed  resistance  to  the  Govern 
ment  might  be  overthrown,  the  assertion  would  have  been  con- 
•sidered  as  marking1  insanity.  It  will  be  recalled  that  early  in 
1861  an  officer,  with  fame  now  world-wide,  urged  the  calling 
out  of  300,000  men,  and  more  than  one  person  alleged  him  to  be 
under  a  visitation  of  insanity — a  subject  fit  for  the  institution 
having  for  its  object  "•  the  most  humane  care  and  enlightened 
curative  treatment  of  the  insane  of  the  army."  And  when 
Simon  Cameron  advised  that  500,000  men  should  be  raised,  the 
people  laughed  and  thought  he  was  mad. 

June  28,  the  Governors  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Ver 
mont,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  Michigan,  Tennessee.  Missouri,  Indiana, 
Ohio,  Minnesota,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin — also  the  President  of 
the  Military  Board  of  Kentucky — requested  the  President  to 
call  upon  the  several  States  for  such  number  of  men  as  might 
be  required  to  fill  up  all  organizations  in  the  field  and  to  add 
to  the  armies  then  organized.  The  request  was  based  on  a 
desire  that  the  recent  successes  of  the  Federal  armies  might  be 
followed  by  measures  which  would  secure  the  speedy  restoration 
of  the  Union,  and  the  belief,  in  view  of  the  important  military 
movements  then  in  progress,  that  the  time  had  arrived  for 
prompt  and  vigorous  measures,  thus  to  speedily  crush  the 
rebellion.  The  decisive  moment  seemed  near  at  hand,  and  the 
people  were  desirous  to  aid  promptly  in  furnishing  all  needful 
reinforcements  to  sustain  the  Government. 

The  President  concurred  in  the  wisdom  of  the  views  expressed 
in  the  request,  and,  July  2,  called  for  300,000  men  for  three 
years.  This  calt  for  volunteers  was,  August  4,  supplemented 
by  one  through  a  draft  for  300,000  militia  for  nine  months' 
service. 


II 

January  i,  1863,  the  volunteer  forces  numbered  892,728; 
January  i,  1864,  that  number  had  been  reduced  to  836,101  ;  but 
on  January  i,  1865,  it  had  been  increased  to  937,441,  and  on 
May  i  to  1,034,064. 

February  24,  1864,  by  act  of  Congress  approved  that  date,  the 
President  was  authorized,  whenever  he  deemed  it  necessary 
during  the  war,  to  call  for  such  number  of  men  for  the  military- 
service  of  the  United  States  as  the  public  exigencies  might 
require.  It  established  the  will  of  the  President  as  the  authority 
for  raising  troops,  and  conferred  a  delicate  and  mighty  power. 
That  expressed  confidence  in  the  President  was  a  sound  rebuke 
to  those  who,  not  much  more  than  one  year  before,  had  in  con 
templation  to  impeach  and  remove  him  from  office. 

From  first  to  last  2,678,967  men  were  furnished,  and  organ 
ized  into  1,668  regiments.  21  battalions  and  504  independent 
companies  of  infantry;  232  regiments,  9  battalions,  and  122 
independent  companies  of  cavalry  ;  and  52  regiments,  6  bat 
talions,  and  274  companies  of  artillery. 

The  constant  addition  to  the  forces  of  new  regiments  proved 
a  great  element  of  weakness  to  the  armies.  As  a  great  evil,  it 
may  here  be  referred  to. 

Under  every  call,  the  first  act  of  Governors  of  States  was  to 
ask  for  authority  to  raise  new  regiments.  The  desire  of  the 
War  Department  was  to  secure  recruits  for  old  regiments,  and 
thus  maintain  their  organizations.  The  Secretary  of  War,  in 
order  to  a  determined  stand,  secured  in  December,  1864,  the 
views  of  the  General-in-Chief  and  army  commanders.  All  were 
in  support  of  the  opinion  of  the  Secretary  relative  to  the  necessity 
of  recruits  for  old  regiments,  but  the  pressure  of  the  States 
caused  all,  as  on  former  occasions,  to  yield,  and  56  new  regi 
ments  and  129  new  independent  companies,  under  the  call  of 
December  18,  1864,  were  added  to  the  list  of  organizations  in 
service,  in  addition  to  77  new  regiments  and  98  companies  under 


12 

the  call  of  July  18,  1864.  All  this  at  a  time  when  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  alone,  required  So.ooo  recruits  to  fill  its  organiza 
tions  to  the  maximum — some  400,000  would  have  been  necessary 
for  all  the  armies — and  when  experienced  and  gallant  lieutenant- 
colonels  and  other  regimental  officers,  bearing  the  wounds  of 
many  battles,  could  not  receive  promotion  owing  to  the  depleted 
state  of  their  commands.  The  subject  was  pointedly  referred  to 
by  the  commander  of  one  of  the  armies  as  follows  : 

''The  raising  of  new  regiments  is  a  means  desired  to  fill  the 
quota  and  avoid  the  draft. 

"There  is  no  intention,  I  suppose,  that  these  new  regiments 
should  serve  the  United  States,  and  their  colonels  will  hardly 
come  into  contact  with  the  army.  Still,  if  it  be  the  intention  to 
put  these  new  regiments  into  the  field,  where  their  colonels 
would  have  command  of  older  and  better  regimental  command 
ers,  it  is  a  question  for  the  War  Department  to  determine,  and 
not  mine.  I  must  take  troops  as  they  come  to  me,  and  respect 
the  commissions  they  hold." 

There  is  a  record  of  the  increase,  on  one  occasion,  of  the 
army  of  France  from  200,000  to  400,000  in  two  months'  time, 
and  had  it  been  thought  proper  to  inaugurate  a  vast  system  of 
defence,  the  number,  it  has  been  said,  could  have  been  raised  to 
700.000  in  four  months — this  under  the  influence  of  extra 
ordinary  expedients ;  and  the  exertion  was  considered  an  evi 
dence  of  the  great  energy  and  geniu  ^  of  Napoleon,  as  well  as  the 
military  spirit  of  the  French  nation. 

Marvellous  results  have  been  achieved  by  the  United  States 
as  exemplified  by  what  has  been  recorded  in  the  foregoing,  in 
connection  with  the  following  summary  : 

In  2^  months  in  1861  we  find  an  average  of  almost  100,000 
men  per  month  placed  in  service  ;  and  during  five  months  the 
average  was  94,061 — this  without  the  aid  of  extraordinary  ex 
pedients  and  in  the  face  of  great  difficulties  in  army  clothing, 
and  equipping. 

At   this    early   period  of   the   war   the   difficulties   in   arming, 


13 

clothing,  and  equipping  were  so  great  that  the  services  of  thou 
sands  were  declined.  Could  arms,  clothing,  and  equipage  have 
been  secured,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  1,000,000  of  men  could  have 
been  placed  in  service  within  five  months. 

Lincoln's  adopted  State,  Illinois,  under  the  calls  of  July 
2,  and  August  4,  1862,  placed  in  service  58,689  men.  Of 
that  number  over  50,000— from  the  farmers  and  mechanics 
of  the  vState — were  furnished  within  eleven  days. 

"  Animated  by  a  common  purpose,  and  firmly  resolved  on 
rescuing  the  Government,  *  *  *  (they)  left  their  harvests 
ungathered,  their  tools  on  their  benches,  the  plows  in 
the  furrows;"  thus  making  a  proud  record,  without  a  parallel 
in  the  history  of  the  war. 

Under  the  calls  of  July  2,  and  August  4,  1862,  there  were, 
prior  to  November  21,  of  that  year,  sent  into  the  field  : 

289  regiments    of  infantry    for    3    years; 
58  regiments   of   infantry  for    9    months ; 
34  batteries    of  artillery    for   3    years ; 
42  companies    of  cavalry    for    3    years;    and 
36  companies  of  cavalry  for  9  months. 

Also  50,000  recruits  for  old  three-years  regiments — a  grand 
aggregate  of  370,349  men;  an  average  of  about  82,211  per 
month. 

Under  the  proposition  (accepted  by  the  President  April  23, 
1864)  of  the  Governors  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and 
Wisconsin,  to  furnish  85,000  one-hundred-day  troops,  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Stanton's  native  State,  Ohio,  in  response  to  the 
War  Department  call  of  May  i,  ordered  the  contribution  of 
the  State  to  rendezvous  in  the  various  counties,  at  the  most 
eligible  places,  on  the  second  day  of  May.  Seven  and  one-half 
o'clock  P.  M.,  the  same  date,  reports  recited  38,000  men  in 
camp.  In  twelve  days  36,254  men  were  organized  into  41 


14 

regiments  and  i  battalion,  mustered,  clothed,  armed,  equipped, 
and  ready  for  transportation  to  the  field.  On  May  24,  22  days 
from  the  date  of  rendezvous,  the  42  regiments  embracing  the 
force  were  in  active  service. 

Here  it  will  be  of  interest  to  remember  that  from  April  15, 
1861,  to  April  28,  1865,  a  period  of  about  48  consecutive 
months,  there  was  supplied  a  monthly  average,  for  the  Union 
and  Confederate  armies,  of  75,000  men — a  large  army  in  itself. 
Considering  the  increase  in  the  population  of  the  United  States 
since  the  rebellion,  a  sound  and  instructive  deduction  can  be 
made  relative  to  the  present  military  power  of  our  now  united 
country. 

DlSBANDMENT. 

The  orders  for  musters-out,  issued  on  and  subsequent  to  April 
29,  1865,  brought  gladness  to  many  hearts,  and  the  gallant 
men  who  had,  after  a  vast  sacrifice  of  life  and  health,  caused 
peace  to  dawn,  were  anxious  to  pass  from  the  army  to  civil 
life,  which  they  did  "  so  quietly  that  it  was  scarcely  known 
save  by  the  welcome  to  their  homes." 

The  soldiers  and  the  people  were  tired  of  war.  For  with 
truth  has  it  been  said  that  "  in  six  hundred  and  twenty-five  bat 
tles  and  severe  skirmishes  blood  flowed  like  water.  It  streamed 
over  the  grassy  plains  ;  it  stained  the  rocks  ;  the  undergrowth 
of  the  forest  was  red  with  it ;  and  the  armies  marched  on  with 
majestic  courage  from  one  conflict  to  another,  knowing  that 
they  were  fighting  for  GOD  and  Liberty." 

I  cannot  think  of  that  terrific  struggle,  a  battle  in  which 
Lincoln  was,  for  four  long  years,  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
without  attaching  to  it  the  historic  words  used  in  connection 
with  Waterloo,  that  culmination  which  terminated  a  period 
of  unrestful  and  destructive  energy  -  -  "a  period-  throughout 
which  the  wealth  of  nations  was  scattered  like  sand,  and  the 
blood  of  nations  lavished  like  water  :" 


t4  A  battle  fought  for  the  interests  of  the  human  race,  felt' 
even,  where  they  were  not  understood ;  so  that  the  tutelary 
angel  of  man,  when  he  traverses  such  a  dreadful  field,  when 
he  reads  the  distorted  features,  counts  the  ghastly  ruins,  sums 
the  hidden  anguish  in  the  harvests 

'of  horror  breathing  from   the  silent  ground,' 

nevertheless,  speaking  as  God's  messenger,  c  blesses  it  and 
calls  it  very  good.'  ' 

The  rapidity  with  which  the  work  of  disbandment  was 
executed  will  be  apparent  from  the  fact  that,  to  August  7, 
640,806  troops  had  been  mustered  out;  August  22,  719,338; 
September  14,  741,107;  October  15,  785,205;  November  15, 
800.963  ;  January  20,  1866,  918,733  ;  February  15,  952,452  ; 
March  10,  967,887  ;  May  i,  986,782  ;  June  30,  1,010,670;  No 
vember  i,  1,023,021 — leaving  then  in  service  11,043  volunteers, 
colored  and  white. 

The  command  of  Sherman  (Army  of  the  Tennessee  and  Army 
of  Georgia)  and  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  were  the  first  to 
complete  their  musters-out  entirely.  Regiments  commenced 
leaving  Sherman's  command,  then  numbering,  present  and 
absent,  116,183  officers  and  men,  from  the  rendezvous,  near 
Washington,  on  May  29,  and  on  August  i  the  last  one 
of  the  regiments  mustered  out  left  Louisville,  Kentucky,  to 
which  point  the  command  (after  the  musters-out  therefrom  were 
partly  completed)  was  transferred,  and  the  armies  composing  it 
merged  into  one — the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  The  work  of 
mustering  out  the  troops  was  not  continuous — it  was  inter 
rupted  and  delayed  by  the  transfer  of  the  two  armies  from 
Washington  to  Louisville,  and  their  subsequent  consolidation. 

Regiments  commenced  leaving  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
numbering,  including  the  9th  Corps,  161,851  officers  and  men, 


i6 

present  and  absent)  from  the  rendezvous,  near  Washington, 
on  May  29,  and  about  six  weeks  thereafter  (July  19)  the 
last  regiment  started  for  home.  During  the  interval  the  work, 
like  that  of  Sherman's  command,  was  not  continuous.  It  was 
interrupted  and  delayed  by  the  movement  of  the  6th  Corps  from 
Danville,  Virginia,  to  Washington,  and  the  consolidation,  by 
orders  of  June  28,  of  the  remaining  portion  of  the  army  into 
a  provisional  corps,  numbering,  present  and  absent,  22,699 
officers  and  men. 

Thus,  for  the  two  commands  in  question,  and  between 
May  29  and  August  i  (two  months),  279,034  officers  and  men, 
present  and  absent,  were  mustered  out  and  placed  en  route  to 
their  homes. 

Including  the  other  armies  and  departments,  the  number 
was  increased  by  August  7  (two  months  and  seven  days)  to 
640,806  officers  and  men. 

Had  it  been  possible  to  spare  all  the  volunteers,  the  entire 
number,  1,034,064,  could  easily  have  been  disbanded  and 
returned  to  their  homes  within  three  months  from  the  date 
(May  29,  1865)  the  movement  homeward  commenced. 

In  Macaulay's  England  we  find  the  following  relative  to  the 
disbandment  of  Cromwell's  army  : 

"  The  troops  were  now  to  be  disbanded.  Fifty  thousand  men 
accustomed  to  the  profession  of  arms  were  at  once  thrown  on 
the  world  ;  and  experience  seemed  to  warrant  the  belief  that 
this  change  would  produce  much  misery  and  crime,  that  the 
discharged  veterans  would  be  seen  begging  in  every  street,  or 
would  be  driven  by  hunger  to  pillage.  But  no  such  result  fol 
lowed.  In  a  few  months  there  remained  not  a  trac.-  indicating 
that  the  most  formidable  army  in  the  world  had  just  been  ab 
sorbed  into  the  mass  of  the  community.  The  royalists  them 
selves  confessed  that  in  every  department  of  honest  industry  the 
discharged  warriors  prospered  beyond  other  men,  and  that  none 
was  charged  with  any  theft  or  robbery,  that  none  was  heard  to 
ask  an  alms,  and  that  if  a  baker,  a  mason,  or  a  wagoner  attracted 
notice  by  his  diligence  and  sobriety,  he  was  in  all  probability 
one  of  Oliver's  old  soldiers." 


I? 

A  greater  eulogy  was  won  by  the  magnificent  volunteer  army 
of  the  United  States,  aggregating  more  than  1,000,000  men — a 
force  more  than  twenty  times  the  size  of  that  referred  to  by  the 
English  historian. 

When  the  time  for  disband ment  had  arrived,  Governors  of 
States  and  other  distinguished  men — all  having  deeply  at  heart 
the  good  of  the  country  — were  apprehensive  that  so  great  a 
force  suddenly  released  from  military  restraint  and  employment 
would  create  disturbance  throughout  the  country.  The  Sec 
retary  of  War  was  requested  to  provide  troops  to  maintain 
order.  He  did  not  view  the  fears  of  others  as  well  founded, 
and  made  replv,  in  substance,  that  if  we  could  not  trust  the 
soldiers  who  had  subdued  the  rebellion,  we  might  as  well  vield 
the  life  of  the  republic.  He  acted  in  accordance  with  his  views, 
and  beyond  sending  troops  to  take  care  of  the  depots  wherein 
was  stored  the  public  property,  turned  over  by  the  volunteers  to 
the  respective  supply  departments,  precautions  against  disturb 
ance  were  not  taken . 

MOVEMENTS  OF  TROOPS  LONG  DISTANCES  WITHIN  SHORT    • 
PERIODS  OF  TIME. 

1.  The   transfer   in    1863,  by   rail,  of  the   i2th   Army  Corps, 
the    command    aggregating   23,000    men — accompanied    by     its 
artillery,  trains,   animals,   and   baggage — from   the  Rapidan,   in 
Virginia,  to  Stevenson,  in  Alabama,  a  distance  of  1,192  miles  in 
seven  days,  crossing  the  Ohio  river  twice. 

2.  The  transfer  of  the  23d  Army  Corps,  15,000  strong,  with 
its  artillery,  trains,  animals,  and   baggage,  from  Clifton,  Tennes 
see,  via  the  Tennessee  and   Ohio  rivers  and  the  Baltimore   and 
Ohio  Railroad,  to  the   Potomac,  in   eleven  days — distance  1,400 
miles.     This  movement  commenced  January    15,    1865,  within 
five    days    after   the   movement  had    been    determined   upon    in 
Washington.     It  was   continued,  by  water,  to  North   Carolina, 


i8 

where,  early  in  February,  Wilmington  was  captured.  March 
22,  when  the  right  wing  of  Sherman's  army  reached  Golds- 
boro,  it  found  there  the  corps,  which  a  short  time  prior  had 
been  encamped  on  the  Tennessee. 

The  movement  was  much  impeded  by  severe  weather — rivers 
were  blocked  with  ice,  and  railroads  rendered  hazardous  by 
frost  and  snow. 

3.  The    transfer,    by    water,   of  the    i6th    Army    Corps  from 
Eastport,  Tennessee,  to   New  Orleans.     The    entire  command, 
including   a    brigade    of    artillery    and    a    division    of    cavalry, 
consisted  of  17,314  men,  1,038  horses,  2,731    mules,  351  wagons, 
and    83    ambulances.     Three    days  were  required  to    embark  it 
on  40  steamers.     The  fleet  sailed  February  9,  1865,  and  the  com 
mand  arrived  at  New  Orleans  February  23 — a  distance  of    1,330 
miles  in   13  days. 

4.  The  transfer,  by  sea,  from  City  Point,  Virginia,  to  Texas, 
of  thjp  25th  Army  Corps,  25,000  strong,  with  its  artillery,  am 
munition,  ambulances,  wagons,   harness,  subsistence,  and   2,000 
horses  and  mules. 

The  embarkation  took  place  between  May  26  and  June 
17,  1865,  and  the  debarkation,  at  Brazos  Santiago,  between 
June  13  and  26.  The  movement  required  a  fleet  of  57 
ocean  steamers;  entire  tonnage,  56,9871.0118.  All  of  the  vessels 
were  provided  for  a  12  days'  voyage;  947  tons  of  coal  and 
50,000  gallons  of  water  were  consumed  daily. 

While  this  expedition  was  afloat,  other  movements  by  sea, 
in  steam  transports,  aggregated  more  than  10,000  men,  inclu 
sive  of  3,000  Confederate  prisoners  sent  from  Point  Lookout 
to  Mobile.  Therefore  there  were  more  than  35,000  troops  and 
prisoners  afloat  on  the  ocean  at  the  same  time. 

5.  From    November     i,     1863,     to     October     31,     1864— one 
year — 626,126    men    were    forwarded    to   the    field,  and  268,114 
were   returned   to   their   homes  on  furlough  and  for  discharge  ; 


19 

making  the  aggregate  of  the  movements  887,240 — embracing 
independently  of  recruits  495  regiments  and  119  batteries  and 
companies.  The  following  year  the  aggregate  was  1,064,080, 
distributed  to  1,126  regiments,  241  batteries,  and  369  companies. 

SUPPLYING  THE  ARMIES. 

The  army  of  Sherman,  embracing  100,000  men  and  60,000 
animals,  was  furnished  with  supplies  from  a  base  three  hun 
dred  and  sixty  (360)  miles  distant,  by  one  single-track  railroad, 
located  mainly  in  the  country  of  an  active  enemy.  The  effort 
taxed  and  measured  forethought,  energy,  patience,  and  watch 
fulness,  and  is  a  most  instructive  lesson.  THe  line  was  main 
tained  for  months,  until  Atlanta  was  secured,  and  supplies  for 
a  new  campaign  had  been  placed  there. 

The  army  then  moved  southeast,  through  Georgia,  accom 
panied  by  thousands  of  beef  cattle,  and  trains  embracing  3,000 
wagons  filled  with  war  supplies  and  material. 

After  the  capture  of  Savannah,  the  command  was  promptly 
met  at  that  place  by  a  great  fleet,  conveying  clothing,  tent- 
age,  subsistence  for  soldiers  and  animals,  wagons,  harness, 
ammunition,  and  all  else  necessary  for  the  march  or  in  camp. 

The  necessary  supplies  were  again  in  readiness  at  Kinston 
and  Goldsboro,  through  the  agency  of  railroads  constructed 
to  those  places  from  Wilmington  and  Morehead  City,  each 
of  the  two  roads  being  95  miles  in  length. 

While  the  foregoing  was  being  accomplished,  other  larger 
armies  in  'the  east  and  west  were  as  promptly  and  energetically 
supplied  in1"  all  their  wants. 

During  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1865,  the  demands 
for  water  transportation  alone  required  a  fleet  of  719  vessels 
(351  steamers,  in  steam  tugs,  89  sail  vessels,  168  barges). 


20 


MILITARY    RAILROADS. 

The  President,  by  the  act  of  January  i,  1862  (General 
Order  No.  10,  Adjutant-General's  Office  of  that  year),  was 
authorized  to  take  military  possession  of  all  the  railroads  in 
the  United  States ;  but  it  was  not  found  necessary  to  exer 
cise  the  authority  over  any  of  the  roads  outside  the  limits  of 
the  insurgent  States. 

"  The  military  railroad  organization  (under  a  director  and 
general  manager — funds  for  its  support  being  supplied  by  the 
Quartermaster's  Department)  was  designed  to  be  a  great  con 
struction  and  transportation  machine  for  carrying  out  the  objects 
of  the  commanding  generals,  so  far  as  it  was  adapted  to  the  pur 
pose,  and  it  was  managed  solely  with  a  view  to  efficacy  in  that 
direction.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  Quartermaster's  Department  to 
load  all  the  material  upon  the  cars,  to  direct  where  such  material 
should  be  taken,  and  to  whom  delivered.  It  then  became  the 
province  of  the  railroad  department  to  comply  with  said  order  in 
the  shortest  practicable  time,  and  to  perfect  such  arrangements 
as  would  enable  it  to  keep  the  lines  in  repair  under  any  and  all 
circumstances." 

Among  the  wonders  connected  with  military  railroad  con 
struction  were  : 

The  Chattahoochee  bridge,  seven  hundred  and  eighty  (780) 
feet  long  and  ninety-two  (92)  feet  high,  which  was  completely 
built  in  4^  days  by  600  men. 

The  Etowah  bridge,  six  hundred  and  twenty-five  (62^)  feet 
long,  seventy-five  (75)  feet  high,  was  burned,  and  rebuilt  by 
the  labor  of  six  hundred  (600)  men  of  the  construction  corps  in 
six  (6)  days. 

In  October,  1864,  Hood's  army  reached  the  rear  of  Sherman's 
forces,  first  at  Big  Shanty,  afterwards  north  of  Resaca,  destroy 
ing,  in  the  aggregate,  35!  miles  of  track  and  455  lineal  feet  of 
bridges  ;  25  miles  of  track  and  230  feet  of  bridges  were  recon 
structed  and  trains  were  run  over  the  distance  in  7^  days.  In  13 


21 

days  after  Hood  left  the  line  trains  were  running  over  the  entire 
length. 

Numerous  other  wonderful  efforts  are  of  record,  but  the  fore 
going  are  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  speed  with -which  the  con 
struction  corps  operated.  Commanders  had  such  confidence  in 
it  that,  in  advancing,  they  were  confident  that  the  railroads  in 
their  rear  would  not  fail  to  meet  the  wants  of  their  commands. 
This  confidence  was  most  important  in  connection  with  lines  of 
operations  lengthened  in  depth,  and  resulted  from  the  knowl 
edge  that  u  none  of  the  humanly  possible  precautions  for  bas 
ing"  an  army  had  been  neglected. 

OTHER  LOGISTICAL  MEASURES — INDICATING  THE  SCIENCE 
OF  THE   STAFF. 

The  Adjutant-General's  Department  and  the  Bureau  of  the 
Provost  Marshal-General  had  to  do  with  supplying  men  for  the 
armies  ;  the  results,  in  part,  involving  the  personnel,  have  been 
made  apparent  from  what  has  been  recited.  The  former,  in 
addition,  was  charged,  during  the  entire  war,  with  the  organiza 
tion  and  disbandment  of  the  forces. 

The  recruitment  of  white  volunteers  was  under  the  exclusive 
control  of  the  Adjutant-General's  Department  from  the  first  call 
for  troops  until  May,  1863,  when  it  was  placed  under  the  Pro 
vost  Marshal-General,  to  whom,  by  law,  was  confided  the  en 
rollment  and  draft,  and  thereby  the  entire  recruiting  service  for 
white  troops  was  placed  under  one  head,  and  a  great  reduction 
made  in  the  expenses  of  recruitment,  through  the  more  rigid 
control  secured  by  the  enrollment  act. 

The  Adjutant-General's  Department  had  charge  of  the  recruit 
ment  of  colored  troops  and  the  re-enlistment  of  the  veteran 
volunteers  in  the  field.  The  plan  for  the  recruitment  of  the 
126,000  veterans,  who  received  the  thanks  of  Congress,  was 
devised  and  prepared  by  the  Provost  Marshal-General,  and  rela- 


22 

tive  thereto  Stanton  has  said  :  "I  know  of  no  operation  con 
nected  with  the  recruitment  of  the  army  which  has  resulted  in 
more  advantage  to  the  service  than  the  one  referred  to." 

The  departments  of  the  Adjutant-General  and  Provost  Mar 
shal-General  recruited,  respectively,  1,515,264  and  1,120,621 
men. 

The  want  of  a  carefully  organized  inspection  department  was 
felt  during  the  war.  Yet,  so  far  as  the  personnel  for  inspection 
service  extended,  it  fully  performed  its  various  important  duties. 

Involving  the  material,  through  the  supply  departments,  we 
find  that,  during  the  whole  war,  there  was  no  failure  of  opera 
tions  through  lack  of  transportation  or  the  supplies  required  of 
the  Quartermaster's  Department.  Its  vast  and  varied  stores  had 
not  only  to  be  ready  at  numerous  and  widely  extended  points, 
when  needed,  but  it  had  to  transport  to  all  points,  there  to  be  in 
readiness  at  the  proper  time,  the  extensive  quantities  of  pro 
visions,  medical  and  hospital  stores,  arms  and  ammunition 
provided  by  the  other  supply  departments. 

The  Army  mule,  for  the  purposes  of  the  draft,  behaved  nobly, 
and  bore  the  conscription  without  being  able  to  express  a  desire 
to  furnish  a  substitute.  On  his  roll  of  honor  we  find  450,000 
serving  in  the  various  armies.  Six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
(650,000)  horses  joined  the  ranks;  and  the  third  year  of  the  war 
the  field  armies  required  for  the  cavalry,  artillery,  and  trains  one- 
half  as  many  animals  as  there  were  soldiers. 

As  the  mules  and  horses  had,  as  a  general  thing,  to  labor 
away  from  water  and  rail  lines,  they  gave  but  little  attention  to 
the  mechanical  manoeuvres  of  719  steam  and  sail  vessels  in 
service  at  one  time  during  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1865, 
and  the  419  engines  and  6,330  cars  employed  during  the  war. 

The  soldier  necessarily  preferred  the  mail  for  his  correspond 
ence  ;  he  did  not  confine  himself  to  a  single  line,  and,  as  a 
result,  the  1,000,000,000  telegrams  transmitted  by  the  military 
telegraph  were  mostly  on  official  business. 


23 

Good  and  wholesome  rations  were  uniformly  supplied  by  the' 
Subsistence  Department,  and  there  was  not  a  campaign,  expe 
dition,  or  movement  that  failed  on  account  of  the  inability  of  the 
department  to  meet  all  proper  requirements.  It  is  true  that, 
generally,  the  bread  was  rather  hard,  yet,  nevertheless,  it  was 
tackled  and  freely  consumed. 

The  Medical  Department  made  ample  provisions  for  the  sick 
and  wounded  from  the  first.  Aside  from  the  vast  accommoda 
tions  elsewhere,  Sherman's  army  found  at  Savannah  four  first- 
class  sea  steamers,  complete  in  all  respects  as  hospital  transports, 
with  extra  supplies  for  5,000  beds,  had  it  been  necessary  to 
establish  large  hospitals  on  his  line  of  operations.  Complaint 
was  never  made  as  to  a  shortage  of  medicine  ;  generally  it  was 
found  that  the  supply  exceeded  any  demand  based  on  the  sol 
diers'  taste. 

The  Government  had  an  abundance   of  money  wherewith  to 
meet  its   sacred    obligations,  and  the  Pay  Department  kept   its 
pledge  "to  make  prompt  payments  in   the  shortest  practicable     . 
time." 

When    the  war   commenced    the  Government   was    forced    to 

obtain  from  foreign  countries  almost  the  entire  supply  of  arms 

'  and  ammunition,  but  in  1863  the  Ordnance  Department  became 

independent  through  home  resources,  both  for  the  manufactured 

articles  and  the  material  composing  them. 

Aside  from  contributing  to  the  command  of  armies,  the  officers 
of  the  Corps  of  Engineers  were  charged  with  important  labors 
in  connection  with  the  defences  of  Washington  and  other  places, 
the  reconnoissance  of  positions  held  by  the  enemy,  the  invest 
ment  of  cities  and  towns,  the  fortifying  of  important  points  on 
railroads,  the  construction  of  offensive  and  defensive  fortifica 
tions  necessary  to  the  march  of  large  armies,  the  manreuvring 
of  pontoon  trains,  surveys  for  the  armies  in  the  field,  and  the 
sea-coast  and  lake  defences. 


24 

The  ability  and  efficiency  of  its  officers  were  notably  illus 
t rated  in  the  construction  of  the  pontoon  bridge  (exclusive  of  200 
feet  of  trestle-work)  over  2.000  feet  long — the  main  part  in  deep 
water,  in  some  places  85  feet — across  the  James  river  above 
Fort  Powhatan,  by  4^0  men  in  five  hours,  between  5  and  10 
o'clock  P.M.  June  1=5,  1864.  Over  this  single  frail  structure 
passed — mainly  in  forty  hours — the  army,  about  100,000  men 
under  Grant,  with  cavalry,  artillery  and  infantry,  and  trains 
embracing  about  5,000  wagons,  besides  3,000  beef  cattle,  with 
out  an  accident  to  an  individual,  man  or  animal.  This  move 
ment,  one  of  the  most  important  on  record,  took  place  during 
the  fifth  epoch  of  the  grand  campaign,  from  the  Rapidan  to  the 
James,  which  opened  May  4,  1864. 

The  passage,  in  all  its  attending  circumstances,  may  well 
stand  forth  brilliantly.  If  it  does  not  surpass,  it  will  compare 
favorably  with  the  passage  of  the  Danube,  before  Wagram,  by 
150,000  of  Napoleon's  forces,  through  the  agency  of  three 
bridges-— in  all  1,360  feet — thrown  over  an  arm  of  that  river  140 
vards  wide. 

The  Signal  Service  was  particularly  valuable  in  observing 
and  reporting  the  changes  and  movements  of  the  enemy,  and 
connecting  the  army  and  navy  when  employed  in  combined 
operations,  thus  enabling  the  two  branches  of  the  service  to 
act  as  a  unit.  Oftentimes  the  services  were  of  vital  importance 
by  furnishing  information  that  could  not  have  been  had  other 
wise,  notably  as  referred  to  by  Sherman,  as  follows: 

"  When  the  enemy  had  cut  our  wires  and  actually  made  lodg 
ment  on  our  railroad  about  Big  Shanty,  the  signal  officers  on 
Vining's  Hill,  Kenesawr,  and  Altoona  sent  my  orders  to  General 
Corse,  at  Rome,  whereby  General  Corse  was  enabled  to  reach 
Altoona  just  in  time  to  defend  it.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  services 
of  this  corps  on  that  occasion,  I  am  satisfied  we  should  have  lost 
the  garrison  at  Altoona,  and  a  most  valuable  depository  of  pro 
visions  there,  which  was  worth  to  us  more  than  the  aggregate  ex 
pense  of  the  whole  signal  corps  for  one  year." 


25 

Again,  the  late  Brigadier-General  Myer,  as  Chief  Signal 
Officer,  has  said  : 

"  The  officers  of  the  Signal  Corps  opened  the  first  direct  com 
munication  from  the  Upper  to  the  Lower  Mississippi,  when 
Rear-Admiral  Farragut,  running  past  the  batteries  of  Port  Hud 
son,  found  himself,  after  the  perilous  passage,  cut  off  above  that 
fortress  from  the  vessels  of  his  fleet,  which  could  not  follow  him 
and 'were  lying  in  the  stream  below. 

"  There  is^  not,  perhaps,  on  record  a  feat  of  aerial  telegraphy 
such  as  that  thus  and  then  performed,  when  from  the  topmast  of 
the  flag-ship  of  the  Admiral,  lying  above  the  fort,  messages  were 
regularly  transmitted  past  the  guns  of  the  fortress  to  a  station  on 
the  mast-top  of  the  war  vessel  Richmond,  five  or  six  mi  es 
below." 

STANTON. 

It  has  been  said  that  Stanton  dominated  the  President  to 
the  extent  of  disregarding  orders  and  instructions.  While  he 
ever  readily  considered  Stanton's  advice,  I  had  frequent  op 
portunities  of  observing  that  the  President  was  the  controlling 
power — the  master,  as  was  his  wont  to  say.  I  well  remem 
ber  an  order  given  at  one  time  which  the  Secretary  deemed 
based  upon  misconception.  I  was  instructed  to  take  the  case 
to  the  President  and  invite  his  consideration  to-  its  prominent 
points.  On  reaching  the  Executive  Mansion  I  found  the  Presi 
dent  in  the  reception-room,  surrounded  by  a  large  number  of 
persons.  He  immediately  recognized  me,  stepped  forward  and 
conducted  me  into  the  most  retired  corner  of  the  room.  After 
I  had  stated  the  object  of  my  visit,  he  said  :  Stanton  is  care 
ful  and  may  be  right.  I  was  very  busy  when  I  examined  the 
case,  but  I  will  take  the  papers,  re-examine,  and  by  four 
o'clock  this  afternoon  send  them  by  messenger  to  your  office. 
Before  the  hour  indicated,  the  papers  were  in  my  hands.  The 
President  had  revoked  his  order  and  affirmed  the  decision  of 
the  Secretary.  The  case  is  illustrative  of  the  official  relations 
between  the  two  great  men. 


26 

It  will  be  pertinent  'here  to  recall  the  episode  connected  with 
the  Sherman- Johnson  convention,  of  April  18,  1865. 

Prior  to  that  convention,  or  agreement,  President  Lincoln 
said — April  3 — to  General  Grant  that  he  did  not  wish  any 
conference  with  General  Lee  unless  it  should  be  for  "  the 
capitulation  of  Lee's  army,  or  on  solely  minor  or  purely 
military  matters,"  and  that  he  was  not  to  "  decide,  discuss,  or 
confer  on  any  political  question,"  as  such  questions  were  held 
in  the  President's  own  hands. 

Upon  the  receipt  (April  21)  by  Grant  of  the  Convention, 
and  prior  to  his  submitting  it  to  President  Johnson  with  a 
suggestion  that  it  should  be  considered  by  the  entire  Cabinet, 
he  felt  satisfied  that  the  President  would  not  approve,  and 
when  he  (April  21)  disapproved,  the  reasons  were  given  by 
Stanton,  as  the  representative  of  the  Executive,  in  the  tele^ 
gram  to  General  Dix. 

After  the  disapproval  became  known  to  Sherman  he,  in  writ 
ing  to  Stanton,  on  April  25,  said:  "  I  admit  my  folly  in 
embracing  in  a  military  convention  any  civic  matters." 

We  all  know  that  Sherman  was  embittered  as  to  Stanton, 
and  that  many  of  his  friends  were  equally  so  ;  but  among 
his  very  best  friends  were  found  men  of  the  highest  eminence 
who,  through  emphatic  letters  to  Stanton,  condemned  the  con 
vention,  and  supported  the  announcement  to  the  country  as 
made  through  the  Dix  telegram. 

The  allegation  that  Stanton's  death  was  the  result  of  a  self- 
inflicted  wound  is  refuted  abundantly  by  the  letter  from  Surgeon 
General  Barnes,  dated  April  16,  1879,  to  the  editor  of  the 
Philadelphia  Press ;  but  I  may  here  state  that  after  Stanton's 
death  I  often  saw  his  body,  and  frequently  was  very  near  it, 
and  I  remained  at  the  house  for  the  main  portion  of  the 
night  preceding  the  interment  of  the  remains ;  consequently  I 
was  in  a  position  to  have  noticed  self-inflicted  injury,  had  there 
been  any. 


27 

To  a  private  soldier  I  have  known  him  to  give  audience 
when  his  leisure  was  so  pressed  as  to  cause  an  interview 
with  officers  of  high  rank  to  be  refused,  and  yet  the  warmth 
of  his  heart,  as  attested  by  the  War  Department  records,  was 
found  going  out  at  all  times,  through  measures  calculated  to 
enhance  the  comfort  and  protect  the  interests  of  the  members — 
officers  and  men — of  the  armies  of  the  Union. 

His  devotion  to  the  public  welfare  was  such  as  to  find 
him  at  his  desk,  not  only  during  the  day,  but  at  night,  until 
near  the  dawn — not  satisfied  to  go  to  his  home  for  needed 
rest  until  the  most  that  could  be  had  been  accomplished.  And 
when  really  ill,  during  many  nights  of  prolonged  labor,  a  de 
voted  and  entreating  wife,  who  had  come  in  the  hours  of 
morning  to  accompany  him  from  his  office,  often  failed  to  break 
the  vigil  devoted  to  the  public  interest. 

Often,  at  midnight,  I.  have  found  myself  with  important 
papers  before  him  for  consideration,  the  labors  of  the  day  hav 
ing  so  pressed  him  as  to  prevent  his  necessary  action  during 
the  usual  hours  of  duty  ;  and  on  more  than  one  occasion  did 
he  fall  asleep  before  I  had  finished,  so  great  was  his  fatigue. 

The  great  strain  eventually  did  its  work,  and  at  times  he 
had,  from  illness,  to  remain  at  his  house.  On  one  of  these 
occasions  his  old-time  friend,  Governor  Brough,  of  Ohio,  tele 
graphed  to  me  to  know  Mr.  Stanton's  condition.  I  went  to 
his  house,  and,  after  reading  the  telegram,  he  said  he  would 
answer  it  himself,  and  attempted  to  do  so  ;  but  his  great  strength 
had  so  far  weakened  that  he  could  not  wield  the  pen,  and, 
with  tremulous  voice  and  tearful  eyes,  he  bade  me  make  the 
necessary  reply. 

Endowed  with  greatness  of  intellect,  coupled  with  super 
human  energy  and  industry,  he  was  eminently  gifted  in  dis 
patching  public  affairs.  While  strictly  honest,  he  was  so 
blindly  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the  Union,  and  so  rigid  in 


28 

the  view  that  self-preservation  was  paramount  to  all  other 
considerations,  that  before  him  justice,  at  times,  seemed  power 
less,  and  personal  rights  passed  for  trifles. 

As  to  the  trials  of  his  high  position,  we  have  his  own  fer 
vent  words  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  in  May,  1862,  as  follows: 

"  I  hold  my  present  post  at  the  request  of  the  President, 
who  knew  me  personally,  but  to  whom  I  had  not  spoken 
from  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  until  the  day  he  handed  me  my 
commission.  I  knew  that  everything  I  cherish  and  hold  dear 
would  be  sacrificed  by  accepting  office.  But  I  thought  I 
might  help  to  save  the  country,  and  for  that  I  was  willing 
to  perish.  If  I  wanted  to  be  a  politician  or  a  candidate  for 
any  office,  would  I  stand  between  the  Treasury  and  the  robbers 
who  are  howling  around  me? 

******** 

"  I  was  never  taken  for  a  fool,  but  there  could  be  no  greater 
madness  than  for  a  man  to  encounter  what  I  do  for  anything  else 

thaw  motives  that  overleap  time  and  look    forward  to  eternity. 

******** 

"  The  confidence  of  yourself  and  men  like  you  is  a  full  equiva 
lent  for  all  the  railing  that  has  been  or  can  be  expended  against 
me  ;  and  in  the  magnitude  of  the  cause  all  merely  individual 
questions  are  swallowed  up." 

I  believe  that  the  public  vision  has  had  removed  from  it  the 
mote  which,  for  a  time,  caused  certain  elements  of  his  character 
to  stand  not  approved.  But,  passing  that,  he  certainly  stood  well 
forward  as  to  "that  impersonal  life  which  is  the  fullest  definition, 
as  well  as  the  truest  test,  alike  of  goodness  and  greatness,"  and 
his  great  ability  and  the  force  of  his  will  made  him  eminently 
successful  in  the  high  office  of  War  Minister  when  treason 
and  rebellion  were  abroad.  It  has  been  well  said  that  his 
training  as  an  advocate  so  strengthened  his  devotion  to  a  cause 
when  adopted  that,  even  if  he  had  not  loved  the  cause  of  the 
Union,  he  would  have  labored  for  it  intensely  because  he  was 
retained  in  it.  With  his  qualifications  and  the  delegation  of 
almost  unbounded  military  authority,  he  was  the  right  arm  of 
the  Executive  of  the  Nation  "  in  smiting  treason  and  rebellion 

o 

and   re-establishing  the  foundation  of  the  Government." 


29 

Cameron  said  of  Stanton  in  June,  1878:  "•  He  was  a  great, 
big,  brave,  loyal  man  ;  perhaps  too  harsh  and  quick-tempered 
in  his  treatment  of  those  around  him,  but,  nevertheless,  a 
thoroughly  good  and  well-meaning  man.  He  had  terrible  re 
sponsibilities,  which  at  times  caused  him  to  be  exacting  almost 
to  the  very  verge  of  injustice,  but  I  am  sure  that  he  always 
intended  to  do  right,  and  there  is  no  doubt  he  was  in  every  way 
the  man  best  fitted  for  the  place  in  the  Government  which  he 
was  called  upon  to  fill.  He  was  a  man  of  wonderful  strength, 
not  only  of  mind  but  of  body,  yet  even  he  gave  way  under  the 
constant,  the  never-ending  strain  which  was  put  upon  all  his 
faculties.  His  death  was  hastened  by,  if  not  the  direct  result 
of,  overwork  in  the  War  Department." 

Sherman  said  in  February,  1876:  tk  I  have  the  highest  opin 
ion  of  Stanton's  administrative  qualities,  and  freely  accord  him 
all  honor  for  marshalling  to  the  defence  of  the  Nation  its  max 
imum  strength." 

Had  Stanton  been  spared  to  enjoy  the  full  fruition  resulting 
from  his  great  labors,  1  believe  that  Sherman,  through  an  im 
pulse  natural  to  his  magnanimity,  would  have  admitted  more 
than  his  folly  in  embracing  civic  matters  in  the  military  conven 
tion. 

It  is  true  that,  at  times.  "l  The  lover  and  the  hero  reason  not. 
*  *  *  But  they  believe  in  what  they  love  and  do." 

Stanton  and  Sherman  were  heroes,  and  devoted  lovers  of  their 

* 
country  and   its  glorious  flag!     Stanton,  at  times,  reasoned  not, 

else  the  sharp  words  adverse  to  Sherman,  as  uttered  at  the  Cab 
inet  meeting  during  the  consideration  of  the  terms  of  the  con 
vention,  would  not  havTe  passed  his  lips.  Sherman  would  have 
recognized  that  fact,  and,  through  a  union  of  his  and  Stanton's 
love  of  country,  there  would  have  resulted  a  full  reconciliation 
of  their  regretted  differences.  The  mote  would  have  been  en 
tirely  removed  from  Sherman's  eye,  and  his  cheeks  would  have 
been  wetted  with  Stanton's  joyful  tear. 


30 

Stanton's  genius  as  a  ruler  and  organizer,  and  ability  to  reach 
grand  results  with  vigor  and  masterly  skill,  are  found  in  the 
public  archives,  endurably  recorded. 

LINCOLN. 

It  was  a  frequent  thing  for  the  President  to  visit  my  office, 
thus  to  obtain  direct  information.  He  was  particularly  inter 
ested  in  the  success  of  the  recruitment,  and  for  his  own  conve 
nience  he  personally  tabulated  the  daily  telegraphic  reports  on 
a  slip  of  paper.  After  he  had  made  the  necessary  record,  he 
would  roll  the  slip  around  a  short  lead-pencil  and  place  it  in  his 
vest-pocket,  from  which  he  would  take  it  during  the  ensuing 
visit.  If  the  number  of  men  obtained  was  satisfactory  he  would 
sit  for  a  brief  time,  conversing  brightly  ;  but  if  otherwise,  the 
enlarged  furrows  of  care  on  his  face  would  indicate  the  sadness 
of  his  disappointment,  and,  without  a  word,  he  would  depart. 

These  interviews  indicated  his  sublime  simplicity  of  character  ; 
but,  withal,  there  was  ever  with  him  the  marked  dignity  of  a 
noble  manhood. 

Soon  after  the  act  of  July  17,  1862,  authorizing  persons  of 
African  descent  to  be  received  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  and  before  the  President  had  decided  fully  what  he 
would  do  under  it,  but  at  a  date  when  the  good  results  that 
would  follow  the  enactment  were  obvious  to  him,  he  received 
an  application — it  may  have  been  from  a  Mr.  Black  or  a  Mr. 
Brown — to  raise  a  regiment.  In  his  characteristic  way  he 
endorsed  the  application:  "Referred  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 
This  gentleman  wishes  to  engage  in  the  ebony  trade.  A. 
Lincoln." 

His  interest  manifested  in  the  recruitment  of  colored  troops  is 
apparent  from  his  letter,  dated  April  i,  1863,  to  Major-General 
Hunter,  in  which  he  said  : 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  the  account  of  your  colored  force  at  Jack- 


sonville,  Florida.     I  see  the   enemy  are  driving  at  them  fiercely, 
as  is  to  be  expected. 

"  It  is  important  to  the  enemy  that  such  a  force  shall  not  take 
shape,  and  grow  and  thrive  in  the  South  ;  and,  in  precisely  the 
same  proportion,  it  is  important  to  us  that  it  shall.  Hence  the 
utmost  caution  and  vigilance  is  necessary  on  our  part.  The 
enemy  will  make  extra  efforts  to  destroy  them  ;  and  we  should 
do  the  same  to  preserve  and  increase  them." 

After  the  colored  troops  had  won  their  reputation — when  it 
was  recognized  that  their  colors  were  guarded  with  as  much 
patriotic  care  as  though  talismanic  virtues  clustered  around 
them — he  said  that  their  employment  was  one  of  the  greatest 
blows  dealt  to  the  rebellion,  and,  in  hoping  that  peace  would 
soon  be  permanent,  added :  "Then  will  there  be  some  black 
men  who  can  remember  that  they  have  helped  to  this  great  con 
summation."  Commencing  with  Milliken's  Bend,  June  7, 
1863,  General  Grant  frequently  complimented  the  colored 
troops,  much  to  the  President's  gratification. 

The  President,  on  one  occasion,  in  defining  the  franchise,  said 
that  some  of  the  colored  people  -'might  be  let  in ;  *  *  * 
"they  would  probably  help,  in  some  trying  time  to  come,  to 
keep  the  jewel  of  liberty  in  the  family  of  freedom." 

In  the  humble  cabin  with  its  three-legged  stool ;  bedstead  of 
poles,  supported  by  crotched  sticks  ;  log  table ;  pot,  kettle  and 
skillet,  and  a  few  tin  and  pewter  dishes,  his  boyhood's  ascent 
in  life  began  as  he  "  climbed  at  night  to  his  bed  of  leaves  in  the 
loft,  by  a  ladder  of  wooden  pegs  driven  into  the  logs."  In  latter 
years  his  ascent  was  onward  and  upward,  by  the  ladder  of  fame, 
gaining  at  each  round  the  esteem  and  honor  of  his  countrymen. 

It  could  not  have  been  otherwise,  when  we  consider  his  emi 
nent  endowment  with  the  gifts  and  virtues  of  charity,  humility, 
meekness,  patience,  diligence,  wisdom,  prudence,  justice,  and 
fortitude. 

The  beautiful  devotion  of  the  son  to  the  memory  of  his 
mother,  through  the  services  over  her  grave  several  months 


32 

after  her   interment,  has   pointed   to   Lincoln's  "  faith  in  the  un 
seen,  hope  in  immortality,  and  love  of  the  beauty  of  holiness." 

Hallam,  when  writting  of  Charlemagne,  and  the  epoch  made 
by  that  great  emperor  in  the  history  of  the  world,  by  advancing 
civilization  and  regenerating  Western  Europe,  used  words  which 
may  be  applied  to  Lincoln  :  kfc  His  sceptre  was  as  the  bow  of 
Ulysses,  which  could  not  be  drawn  by  a  weaker  hand.  He 
stood  alone,  like  a  beacon  upon  a  waste,  or  a  rock  in  the 
broad  ocean.  His  deeds  have  cast  a  lustre  around  his  head 
and  testify  the  greatness  that  has  embodied  itself  in  his  name." 

THE  CLOSING  HOURS. 

April  14,  1865,  I  had,  about  ten  o'clock  P.  M.,  returned  from 
the  War  Department  to  my  house,  and  very  soon  thereafter  was 
informed  by  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Lincoln — Dr.  Lyman  Beecher 
Todd,  of  Lexington,  Kentucky — that  the  President  had  been 
assassinated,  and  the  members  of  his  Cabinet  attacked.  I  at  once 
hurried  to  the  house  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  there  found 
the  family  greatly  alarmed  and  excited ;  but  the  Secretary, 
just  prior  to  my  arrival,  had  started  for  Mr.  Seward's  resi 
dence.  I  followed,  and  there  learned  that  he  had  gone  to  the 
scene  of  the  tragedy,  on  loth  street;  on  reaching  the  locality 
I  found  him  at  the  house  to  which  the  President  had  been 
taken  from  Ford's  Theatre.  I  remained  there,  near  the  Sec 
retary,  and  at  his  request,  during  the  night.  He  was  greatly 
saddened,  and  referred  to  the  change  of  scene  from  that  at 
the  Cabinet  meeting,  a  few  hours  before,  at  which  General 
Grant  was  present,  when  the  state  of  the  country  and  the 
prospect  of  a  speedy  peace  were  discussed.  He  stated  that 
the  President  during  the  meeting  was  hopeful  and  very  cheer 
ful,  and  had  spoken  kindly  of  General  Lee  and  other  officers 
of  the  Confederacy.  Particularly  had  his  kindly  feelings  gone 
out  to  the  enlisted  men  of  the  Confederacy,  and  during  the 


33 

entire  session  of  the  Cabinet  his  manner  and  words  mani 
fested,  emphatically,  a  desire  to  restore  a  satisfactory  peace 
to  the  South,  through  all  due  regard  for  her  vanquished  citi 
zens.  Yet,  whilst  he  was  buoyant,  on  that  Good  Friday,  in  his 
advocacy  of  "  Peace  on  earth  to  men  of  good  will,"  he 
seemed  depressed,  at  times,  in  consequence  of  his  dream  of 
the  previous  night,  which  had  recurred  several  times  on  the 
eve  of  some  important  event — "  a  vague  sense  of  floating — float 
ing  away,  on  some  vast  and  indistinct  expanse,  toward  an 
unknown  shore  !  " 

About  1.30  A.  M.  it  was  determined  that  the  wound  was 
mortal,  that  the  President  was  then  dying,  and  that  it  was  not 
probable  that  he  would  live  through  the  night.  The  Secretary 
then  informed  me  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  stand  prepared  to 
communicate  the  President's  death  to  the  Vice-President,  and 
soon  thereafter  handed  me  the  rough  draft  of  the  formal  notifica 
tion,  from  which  I  prepared  a  fair  copy,  and  held  it  until  after 
the  President's  death,  which  was  officially  announced  at  7.55 
A.  M.,  April  15,  by  a  telegram  from  the  Secretary  to  Major- 
General  Dix,  as  follows  : 

u  Abraham  Lincoln  died  this  morning  at  twenty-two  minutes 
after  seven  o'clock." 

The  notification  to  the  Vice-President  was  duly  signed  and 
communicated,  as  recited  in  a  subsequent  telegram,  as  follows: 

kt  Official  notice  of  the  death  of  the  late  President,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  was  given  by  the  heads  of  Departments  this  morning 
to  Andrew  Johnson,  Vice-President,  upon  whom  the  Constitu 
tion  devolved  the  office  of  President.  Mr.  Johnson,  upon 
receiving  this  notice,  appeared  before  the  Honorable  Salmon  P. 
Chase,  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  and  took  the  oath  of 
office  as  President  of  the  United  States,  and  assumed  its  duties 
and  functions." 

The  death-bed  scenes  were  harrowing  in  the  extreme.  Sur 
rounding;  and  near  the  illustrious  one,  who  was  insensible  from 


34 

the  first  in  consequence  of  his  mortal  wound,  from  which  his 
life's  blood  was  oozing,  were  the  sobbing,  grief-stricken  wife,  all 
the  members  of  the  Cabinet  save  Mr.  Seward,  and  others  in 
civil  and  military  circles.  As  the  sure  approach  of  death  was 
noticed,  the  deep  sad  gloom  increased,  and.  at  the  solemn 
moment,  it  seemed  that  it  had  extended  to  Heaven  to  be  from 
there  promulgated  back  to  earth  through  the  agency  of  deep 
sable  clouds.  The  attendant  drops  of  rain  seemed  to  have  been 
sent  to  mingle,  sorrowfully,  with  the  tears  of  the  Nation. 

Soon  after  eight  o'clock  the  devoted  War  Minister  had  ordered 
all  to  .be  arranged  for  the  removal  of  the  body  to  the  Executive 
Mansion,  and  then  left  me,  as  his  representative,  until  after  the 
transfer  should  take  place.  It  was  about  this  time  that,  after 
pressing  and  smoothing  the  eyes  of  the  dead  President,  I  placed 
coins  on  them  to  close  them  for  a  last  long  slumber. 

u  Softly  heroic  the  life  had  been  all  through  ;  "  and  he  who 
had  loved  and  served  his  country  so  well  was,  at  the  final 
instant,  sealed  for  preservation  in  that  repository  of  abundance — 
the  love  of  his  countrymen. 

To  quote  again  from  Bancroft's  fitting  words  : 

14  Where  in  the  history  of  nations  had  a  chief  magistrate  pos 
sessed  more  sources  of  consolation  and  joy  than  Lincoln?  His 
countrymen  had  shown  their  love  by  choosing  him  to  a  second 
term  of  service.  The  raging  war  that  had  divided  the  country 
had  lulled,  and  private  grief  was  hushed  by  the  grandeur  of  the 
result.  The  Nation  had  its  new  birth  of  freedom,  soon  to  be  se 
cured  forever  by  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution.  His  persist 
ent  gentleness  had  conquered  for  him  a  kindlier  feeling  on  the 
part  of  the  South.  His  scoffers  among  the  grandees  of  Europe 
began  to  do  him  honor.  The  laboring  classes  everywhere  saw 
in  his  advancement  their  own.  All  peoples  sent  him  their  bene 
dictions.  And  at  this  moment  of  the  height  of  his  fame,  to 
which  his  humility  and  modesty  added  charms,  he  fell  by  the 
hand  of  an  assassin  ;  and  the  only  triumph  awarded  him  was  the 
march  to  the  grave.  *  *  *  Not  in  vain  has  LINCOLN 
lived,  for  he  has  helped  to  make  this  republic  an  example  of 
justice,  with  no  caste  but  the  caste  of  humanity.  *  *  *  The 
heroes  who  led  our  armies  and  ships  into  battle  and  fell  in  the 


35 

service  *  *  *  did  not  die  in  vain  ;  they,  and  the  myriads  of 
nameless  martyrs,  and  he,  the  chief  martyr,  gave  up  their  lives 
willingly  '  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for 
the  people  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth.'  "  . 

Commander  and  Companions,  may  I  not,  in  closing,  borrow 
other  well-known  words  as  fittingly  applicable  to  our  beloved 
Chief  Martyr: 

"  He  spoke  among  you,  and  the  man  who  spoke ;  * 

Who  never  sold  the  truth  to  serve  the  hour, 
Nor  paltered  with  Eternal  God  for  power; 

******* 
Great  in  council  and  great  in  war,      *     *     * 
Rich  in  saving  common  sense, 
And,  as  the  greatest  only  are, 
In  his  simplicity  sublime,     *     *     * 
Whose  life  was  work,  whose  language  rife 
With  rugged  maxims  hewn  from  life  ; 
Who  never  spoke  against  a  foe ;  "     *     *     * 

To  him  : 

';  The  path  of  duty  was  the  way  to  glory; 
He  that  walks  it,  only  thirsting 
For  the  right,  and  learns  to  deaden 
Love  of  self,  before  his  journey  closes, 
He  shall  find  the  stubborn  thistle  bursting 
Into  glossy  purples,  which  outredden 
All  voluptuous  garden  roses.     *     *     * 

Let  his  great  example  stand 

Colossal,  seen  of  every  land, 

And  keep  the  soldier  firm,  the  statesman  pure  : 

Till  in  all  lands,  and  through  all  human  story 

The  path  of  duty  be  the  way  to  glory; 

And  let  the  land  whose  hearths  he  saved  from  shame, 

For  many  and  many  an  age, 

At  civic  revel,  and  pomp,  and  game, 

Attest  their  great  Commander's  claim.     *     *     * 

Witli  honor,  honor,  honor,  honor  to  him, 

Eternal  honor  to  his  name."     *     *     * 

Yea! 

"  Let  the  sound  of  those  he  wrought  for, 
And  the  feet  of  those  he  fought  for, 
Echo  round  his  bones  for  evermore." 


